Questair Offers Improved Model

Quest Aircraft, LLC, of Sandpoint, ID has brought their prototype Kodiak back to AirVenture this year. Quest Aircraft is marketing the Kodiak as a rugged, backcountry aircraft with the capability to operate from unimproved runways.

The Kodiak is a big, stout looking, single-engine turboprop, 10-place aircraft; think Caravan, at which market segment the Kodiak seems squarely aimed. The Kodiak sports a Pratt & Whitney PT6 and, claims Quest Aircraft, is designed to be float capable.

"The Caravan is a bigger plane designed for a different mission," according to Kelly Mahon, Quest Aircraft Marketing, "we like to compare ourselves more to the 206 Stationair."

But he acknowledges that with a turbine in front and ten seats in back it will be hard for potential customers not to think Caravan. "This is a 'human sized' plane. People are awed when I pull the tow bar out of the cargo pod and push the plane around by hand." Try that with your Caravan!

"The Kodiak will carry 3.5 times the weight at 50 KTAS faster than a 206 when they're both loaded with 2.5 hours of fuel."

Mahon added that the Kodiak was designed from specifications provided by maintenance-oriented people. "The nav lights are LED technology that should burn for 30,000 hours; that's the kind of durability and ease of maintenance we're shooting for."

Interested visitors who saw Questair's Kodiak last year will notice some differences this year -- most notably a 60 cubic foot external cargo pod.

Quest Aircraft hasn't officially committed to the cargo pod option, noting rather demurely in a press release they "...expect it will be available as an option for customers on the first deliveries." Other additions include a completed interior and a Garmin G1000 equipped panel. Quest Aircraft claims this to be first G1000 suite installation in a turboprop aircraft.

When asked why Quest Aircraft decided to offer a cargo pod Mahon pointed out the FAA limits single-pilot operations to 10 seats, and if you fill ten seats you might need that pod for baggage. "It's all about flexibility," says Mahon, "we want our customers to have options to use this aircraft in as many ways as possible."

AirVenture attendees may view a video at Quest Aircraft's booth touting the backcountry capabilities of the Kodiak. They produced the video during a three-day field evaluation at Allison Ranch, an 1800 ft, unimproved, private grass strip in the Idaho mountains (below). Company officials expressed delight at the aircraft's agility and responsiveness while testing its STOL capabilities right up to maximum gross weight.

"The first production aircraft is on the line right now. Static tests are almost complete, and we've logged nearly 500 test flight hours on the prototype toward FAA certification," said Mahon.

And since you asked, you should know that the Kodiak is priced at $1.29 million vs $1.6 million for a bare-bones Caravan.

Quest Aircraft plans to make the first customer deliveries before the end of the year.

FMI: www.questaircraft.com